Kiran Reddy, Jagan knock on Pranab door against division

Andhra CM sits on symbolic fast, says will of people against bifurcation.

New Delhi |
Updated: February 6, 2014 6:10 am

N Kiran Kumar Reddy, on the other hand, met President Pranab Mukherjee and told him that the division was “against the will of the people”.

As the Congress made it clear that the Bill to create Telangana would be brought in Parliament next week, its ministers from Seemandhra Wednesday made a last-minute attempt to delay the division by asking the Group of Ministers to give Hyderabad the Union Territory status.

Andhra Pradesh CM, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, on the other hand, met President Pranab Mukherjee and told him that the division was “against the will of the people”.

The GoM met ministers from the Seemandhra region, led by M M Pallam Raju and Kishore Chandra Deo, who suggested several amendments including the one on making Hyderabad a UT, division of revenue between Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh, inclusion of Bhadrachalam subdivision which includes the submerged area of Polavaram irrigation project in the Seemandhra region and a special package to the residuary state with focus on Rayalaseema.

As the ministers from the Seemandhra region sought amendments, the Congress MPs from the Seemandhra conveyed to the party leadership that they will not allow Parliament to function. The Chief Minister, who sat on a symbolic fast at Jantar Mantar, and YSRCP chief Jaganmohan Reddy met the President separately seeking his intervention to stall the division of the state. Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha, on the other hand, met the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urging him to stay the course. The Prime Minister, he said, assured him that the Telangana Bill will be brought in the current session of Parliament.

The CM — who led a huge delegation of MLAs, MLCs, MPs and ministers from the Seemandhra region — told the President that the “will of the people of Andhra Pradesh is reflected in the unopposed resolution passed by the Assembly. Almost 75 to 80 per cent of the people want that the state should remain united.”

Jagan too told the President that the will of the people was against the division and argued that the division was against all constitutional conventions, precedents and practices.